It was a fair way to start as a recruiting manager, as Bryce Lewis selected Jack Ziebell with his very first National Draft selection.

Looking back on the draft, the versatility of Ziebell was what impressed Lewis and the North recruiting team.

“He (Ziebell) had the ability to play through the midfield as he does now, but equally he impacted games as a forward.” Lewis told the AFL’s Road to the Draft podcast.

“In the Under 16, where he was named an All-Australian, he might have spent some time at centre half back (as well).”

The current image of Ziebell as a stable and settling influence is one he’s carried long before he came to Arden Street.

“Jack was 17 when he was drafted, but he had such a mature head on his shoulders,” Lewis explained.

“That year, the then-AIS Academy went to South Africa. We were out camping and sitting around a campfire and I distinctly recall him coming up and asking questions about North Melbourne and our coach at the time, Dean Laidley.

“It really struck me at how mature the conversation was. Just the way he carried himself, the Jack of 17 is not too different to the Jack of 25.”

In back-to-back drafts, what would become the nucleus of North’s inside midfield – alongside Andrew Swallow – was completed with the addition of Ben Cunnington in 2009.

It was the result of a clear plan.

“The strategy when (list manager) Cameron Joyce came to the club, we had (Adam) Simpson finishing up, Shannon Grant, Brady Rawlings was coming to the end. We thought Boomer might have had one or two years left in him. The philosophy was to try and build the midfield from the inside out.

“Fortunately they’ve been able to become key members of our side and gradually we’ve been able to introduce other players around them.”